The Myth of Transparency

There was a point in time when the word “transparency” meant something.  Certainly we can all agree that for public entities like school districts being transparent, in a general sense, is a good thing.  But at some point in time, through overuse as a buzzword, transparency has lost its meaning.  Now it is nothing more than a signal of laziness, a lack of understanding of information that is being presented, and the failure to make any kind of meaningful attempt to understand.  Too many times I have attended School Board meetings and witnessed people make snap judgments about a $170 to $180 million budget that are usually not based in fact, and then refuse to dig any deeper when they are told that they are not considering all of the information.  Our District officials, especially Assistant Superintendent for Business Laura Newman, are readily available to offer detailed explanations and answer questions.  All you have to do is ask at the appropriate time, and maybe this is just me, try and ask politely.  Of course it’s easier to just throw up your hands and claim that the School District isn’t being “transparent,” but when you boil it down, this criticism usually just shows that the person saying it is either incapable of understanding or really isn’t interested in spending the time and effort.  

Another term that falls into this category is “rubber stamp.”  What does that really mean?  When you are not involved in the internal, private deliberations, how can you claim that anyone has blindly accepted anything?  Of course you can’t.  But again, this is an easy term to throw around for those too lazy to spend the time.  And personally, that is not the kind of person that I want on the Board of Education, someone that throws around buzzwords like “transparency” and “rubber stamp” to avoid having to do the hard work.  I don’t want to trust that person with $180 million that is largely made up of our tax dollars, and I certainly don’t want that person playing a role in the future of my child’s education.  That scares me to death, and it should scare you too.  

The decisions that our Board of Education make next year won’t necessarily be felt right away.  The long term effects -- program reductions and increased class sizes for example -- are much harder to reverse in the tax cap era.  We already have a Pied Piper on the Board of Education, playing his flute and leading his followers off of the educational cliff.  While, as I’ve said before, I think he knows full well what he’s doing, the scarier prospect is having him joined by one of his blind followers.  

And is why, under no circumstances, can you vote for Dan Fusco.  In my experience of listening to him speak at almost every School Board meeting over the last two years, he just doesn’t get it.  Forget about the actual issues for a second, this is not a person that is even capable of listening to someone’s contrary opinion and then having a civilized debate.  This became clear for me last year, as I stood outside of the High School campaigning and he was rushing to cut off my wife from handing out my fliers to prospective voters and then yelling lies about me as they passed by.  

He is the guiltiest of relying on the lazy buzzwords.  You really only need to look at the Budget Edition of the Commack Courier for the best example of this (https://issuu.com/commackschools/docs/budgetcourier14?e=1506742/7747000).  While the other candidates clearly took the time to write some information to help you get to know them, Mr. Fusco wrote a few brief paragraphs largely filled with generalities.  

Despite their relative lack of information, those few short paragraphs at least reveal Mr. Fusco’s complete lack of involvement in the School District, which, despite having two children in the High School, is apparently limited to being a Commack High School graduate.  That, coupled with his attempts to prop up Mr. Tampellini’s wrong-headed claims about our District’s spending (which he has stated both at School Board meetings and on the Patch, as I believe, through the anonymous handle “commackvoter”), should send chills down your spine when you think about Mr. Fusco having any say in the future of our children’s education  

As Mr. Tampellini said at the March 13, 2014 Budget Workshop, if it doesn’t work out, we’ll just raise taxes or cut programs:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_U1WufhDwU (fast forward to 29 minutes and 40 seconds through 29 minutes and 50 seconds).  Except that in the tax cap era, you can’t just raise taxes, and you can guess what Mr. Tampellini, someone that ran for the Board of Education for the first time after his kids were out of the District, will suggest.  And his blind follower Mr. Fusco will gladly come along for that disastrous ride.  

Now, with respect to the other race, I will give the disclaimer that I do not know George Marine very well, but there are already a few things about him that worry me.  First and most importantly, he is being supported by Mr. Fusco.  That red flag is raised straight up.  Second, there are a couple of concerning things that come out of Mr. Marine’s profile in the Budget Edition of the Courier, linked above.  

First, while Mr. Marine certainly appears to be more involved that Mr. Fusco -- his membership on the Common Core committee and his volunteering at Special Olympics are certainly admirable -- he noticeably does not appear to be a member of or involved in the PTA. By itself this might not mean much, but coupled with Mr. Fusco’s troubling endorsement and some other statements that Mr. Marine has made, it raises the question as to whether he would be a good advocate for all of the children in this District.  

Reading on, he makes this statement, which shows a complete lack of understanding of the budget process or role of Board Trustees:  “Last year’s election resulted in two new BOE members and consequently we have the lowest tax increase in memory and the restoration of assistant coaches to Middle and High School sports.”  With all due respect, claiming that the election of Mr. Hartman and Mr. Tampellini had anything to do with the tax increase or the restoration of assistant coaches is extremely misleading, and shows that Mr. Marine is either misinformed or made no effort to understand the process.  This is especially true where Mr. Tampellini voted against this year’s proposed budget.  The fact that someone could run for this position (and not for the first time) without having even a general understanding of the role of a Board Trustee in the budget process is frightening.  

Mr. Marine goes on to talk about the negotiation of the teachers contract in a very general way that, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding about how that process should unfold given the constraints of relevant state law (I promise I won’t go off on a tangent about the Taylor Law and the Triborough Amendment).  Again, this is not about what side you are on, it’s about making sure that you completely understand the position you are attempting to gain.  Otherwise, the results will be disastrous.  

What should jump out at everyone is that no one is questioning the excellence of the education that our children receive in Commack.  The misguided harping of Mr. Tampellini and Mr. Fusco, and perhaps Mr. Marine, on fiscal issues, completely ignores the fact that our School District continues to excel and offer a broad range of educational options to all level of students.  I am consistently amazed at not only what our top students are accomplishing in subjects that weren’t even offered at my college, but of the efforts that our District makes to offer a comfortable educational program for all of the students in the District.  But they are not talking about that.  And that should scare you too.  

Ultimately, it is extremely important to realize that in addition to voting on the budget on May 20, 2014, the citizens of Commack will also be voting for two members of the Board of Education.  Two people that will help shape the future of our children’s education and who will be trusted with preserving the single most important asset in our community.  Especially for all of the young parents in the District – over 2000 of you spread out among the primary schools and 2000 more in Burr and Sawmill – it is imperative that you come out and vote for the people that you think will serve with the best interest of the entire community in mind.  Otherwise, when your children reach the Middle School and the High School, they will have larger classes and less diverse programs than the children attending those schools today.  And that is the scariest proposition of them all.  

As always, I will not be responding to the comments.  Thanks again for taking the time to read this.